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VC Cafe
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The AI Browser Wars
- The '90s saw the tech war between Microsoft Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator over internet gateway control.
- Today's 'Browser Wars 2.0' focuses on owning the intelligence layer inside browsers, impacting user interactions.
- Shift from search-dominated browsing to AI-integrated tools like ChatGPT indicates user comfort with AI interfaces.
- Google, Microsoft, and Apple are integrating AI features in their browsers, altering how users interact with the web.
- New AI-native contenders like Dia, Opera Neon, and Perplexity Comet are reshaping browser functionality.
- These contenders offer AI-first browsers that move from reactive to responsive, search to synthesis, and tools to assistants.
- The competition revolves around developing AI layers that offer intuitive user experiences in accessing web-based information.
- The Browser Wars reflect a shift towards AI-mediated interactions, with startups vying to disrupt the browser market.
- Opportunities lie in creating seamless AI assistance in browsing experiences, potentially through app/agent stores.
- The evolving landscape of AI integration in browsers signals a significant change in how people engage with web information.
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Medium
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254
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Inside My Investment Committee Mindset — What We Look For Beyond the Deck
- Investors focus on factors beyond the standard pitch deck when evaluating startups.
- Key aspects include deep industry insights, evidence of problem understanding, and relentless drive to solve issues.
- Demonstrating thorough research and maintaining a sense of urgency are essential.
- Clear articulation of unit economics and financial realities is crucial.
- Long-term partnerships and transparent, collaborative relationships are valued.
- Startups must be able to survive various challenges and adapt to unforeseen circumstances.
- Investors look for multiple sustainable pathways and stress-testing resilience.
- Fatal single points of failure can swiftly derail investment prospects.
- The importance of strong partnerships and trust in investment decisions is highlighted.
- Investors consider long-term potential and the ability of startups to navigate uncertainties.
- A real-world example demonstrates how critical factors beyond the deck can influence investment outcomes.
- Final decisions often rely on invisible filters that go beyond initial presentations.
- Transparency, scrutiny, and readiness for detailed discussions are encouraged for founders.
- Investors prioritize robustness, sustainability, and adaptability in their evaluations.
- The article emphasizes the importance of deep understanding and preparedness for rigorous scrutiny.
- Investors seek startups with the ability to weather various challenges and pivot when necessary.
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Medium
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312
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HardTech Reads: The AI & Robotics Revolution vol.36
- Redwood trains 1X's NEO humanoid for home tasks with real-world data, marking progress in domestic robotics.
- OpenAI partners with DoD for AI prototypes in national security, sparking ethical debates on AI use in war.
- Tesla set to launch fully autonomous robotaxi service on June 22, pending regulatory approvals.
- China developing robotic space guards for Tiangong station to patrol and intercept threats in orbit.
- Various companies secure funding for tech advancements in aerial inspection robotics, climate-sensing smallsats, and more.
- A conversation on the militarization of space and the role of AI in defense highlights possible futures of warfare beyond Earth.
- Upcoming tech events including Deep Tech Week, International Conference on Ubiquitous Robots, and more focus on advancements in robotics and AI.
- Several job openings in the hard tech sector are highlighted, including positions at notable companies like SpaceX, Tesla, and NASA.
- Resources and featured articles covering topics like hard tech startups, AI tools, venture capital investing, and more are shared for those interested in AI and robotics.
- Events like Hard Tech Summit in Ontario and IEEE IROS in Hangzhou provide opportunities for networking and learning in the field of robotics and automation.
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Saastr
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237
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June 30, 2025: The Date Where If Your Team Hasn’t Rolled Out Truly Great AI Into Production Yet… It’s Time to Reboot the Team
- June 30, 2025 marks the deadline where teams need to have rolled out significant AI into production for competitive advantage.
- Companies without meaningful AI capabilities leading to revenue increase face a talent and vision problem.
- The 18-month window for experimenting and implementing AI technologies has closed, separating leaders from laggards.
- Success stories include companies like Anthropic, Sierra, Cursor, Loveable, Harvey AI, amongst others, showcasing substantial growth through AI.
- Having 'Truly Great AI' means fundamentally transforming product experiences for measurable business impact.
- Successful AI integration entails superhuman-level assistance, invisible intelligence, and workflow transformations.
- Companies excelling in AI focused on hiring AI-native talent early, understanding product strategy, and fostering AI-first thinking.
- Adjustments needed for a successful AI integration include not retraining existing teams but hiring AI-focused talents and giving them authority.
- June 30, 2025 marks a crucial point for companies to embrace AI or risk losing competitive positioning and market relevance.
- The future of SaaS lies in AI-native cultures, product experiences, and business models, urging fast decision-making and transformative actions.
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Medium
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404
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Spinwheel: The Connective Tissue for Credit Data
- Open finance allows consumers and financial service providers to access financial data through APIs for better financial decision-making.
- Data aggregators play a crucial role in delivering timely and comprehensive consumer financial data in the open finance landscape.
- While open finance provides access to financial assets, information on debts and liabilities remains less accessible.
- Consumer debt market in the US is substantial, with $19 trillion in outstanding liabilities reported by the Federal Reserve.
- Americans are set to originate 134 million consumer loans in various categories by 2025, according to Equifax data.
- Consumer debt is a significant source of stress for many American households.
- Data on consumer debts is scattered across loan providers with legacy tech stacks, hindering comprehensive visibility.
- Consumers need nuanced, granular, and real-time data on debts to manage them effectively.
- Consumers are eager to budget, manage debt, and improve credit scores, creating a demand for credit-monitoring tools.
- Spinwheel, an API for consumer liability data, aims to provide comprehensive insights into consumer debts.
- Spinwheel offers direct integrations to collect permissioned consumer liability data with high coverage and accuracy.
- F-Prime has invested $30 million in Spinwheel's Series A to support their efforts in the financial infrastructure space.
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Medium
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241
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Turning Intelligence Into Infrastructure — Capacity Fund
- Industrial economies are experiencing significant changes with a focus on regionalized supply chains and redesigned energy systems.
- The core variable of capacity is crucial for building industrial resilience, with a shift towards valuing knowledge systems.
- An IP-focused investment fund aims to accelerate industrial capacity and financial innovation by focusing on tech transfer and applied domain expertise.
- The fund invests in undercapitalized intellectual domains like university labs, corporate portfolios, and supply chain data systems.
- It collaborates with founders, domain experts, and partners to create infrastructure-aligned value.
- The fund's structure combines patient capital, operational partnership, and a commitment to purpose-aligned accountability.
- By emphasizing intellectual capital and sustainable systems, the fund aims to make outcomes visible, investable, and transferable.
- In a time of geopolitical fragmentation and talent transitions, the need for deployable knowledge systems is critical.
- The fund believes intellectual property tailored to real economies is a significant lever for progress.
- The fund is engaging with institutions, operators, and investors aligned with their mission.
- If interested in participating, individuals can fill out a form to learn more about becoming part of the ecosystem.
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Medium
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426
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Investing in Climate: What We Can Learn from Lowercarbon Capital and Breakthrough Energy Ventures
- Lowercarbon Capital and Breakthrough Energy Ventures are prominent investors in the impact/climate space, managing over $5.5 billion collectively.
- LCC invests globally across software and hardtech startups, while BEV, founded by Bill Gates, focuses on technologies to remove >0.5 Gt CO₂/year.
- BEV operates with a long-term industrial investor approach and targets various sectors including energy, manufacturing, and transport.
- The article discusses trends in the energy vertical, emphasizing energy management, renewables, energy storage, and fusion as key areas of focus.
- Renewables, once a major focus, are still crucial but considered more mature, with a shift towards energy storage as the next frontier.
- Fusion, though high-risk, offers vast sustainable power potential with significant investments from LCC and BEV.
- BEV backs moonshot technologies like fusion, focusing on high-CAPEX R&D infrastructure tech, while LCC pursues a hybrid model balancing short and long-term plays.
- The article highlights the importance of blending software-led energy optimisation with high-potential hardtech investments for scalable climate solutions.
- Both LCC and BEV support startups that combine technical ambition with market scalability, aiming to build a sustainable future.
- The article provides insights into how investors like Breega are shaping their climate strategies based on the approaches of LCC and BEV.
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Saastr
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260
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The Great SDR Downsizing: 36% of B2B Companies Cut Sales Development Teams in 2025
- 36% of B2B companies decreased their Sales Development Representative (SDR) headcount in the last year.
- Only 19% of companies increased their SDR headcount, the lowest growth rate among sales functions.
- AI tools and automation are leading to more efficient SDR teams, with companies doing more with fewer people.
- Focus is shifting towards quality over quantity in sales interactions, leading to targeted campaigns and higher-skilled professionals.
- Economic pressures often result in SDR roles being the first to get cut.
- Companies that increased their SDR teams are likely experiencing significant competitive advantages.
- Investing in AI-augmented SDRs, finding product-market fit, and creating hybrid roles are key strategies for growth.
- Sales Engineers are seeing growth, suggesting a move towards technical selling in complex B2B software.
- Sales leaders are advised to invest in AI tools, focus on quality metrics, and consider hybrid roles.
- The data indicates an evolution, not extinction, of the SDR role towards smaller, more efficient teams focused on quality interactions.
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15 Likes
Medium
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106
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Securing Our Energy Infrastructure: Cyber in the Era of Green Molecules®
- Cybersecurity is foundational for the clean energy system, protecting digital systems of low-carbon fuels.
- OT merging with IT increases sector efficiency but also risks of cyber threats.
- The energy sector faces rising ransomware attacks and breaches impacting reliability and decarbonization.
- Operational technology convergence with information technology expands vulnerabilities.
- Quantum computing poses challenges to energy infrastructure security.
- NIST releases post-quantum cryptography standards and investments in cyber defense.
- Resilient infrastructure design is crucial for future digital and quantum threats.
- Innovations like Bohr Quantum embed physics-based protections into grid networks.
- Cybersecurity shift towards modular deployments for clean energy systems.
- Regulatory standards promote cyber readiness and unlock capital for secure systems.
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6 Likes
Saastr
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74
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Dear SaaStr: My CAC Has Doubled Over The Last Year. Should I Stop Hiring?
- High CACs doubling over the last year can be concerning, but don't panic if growth and burn rate are still manageable.
- Segment your CACs to understand if all segments are affected or just specific ones.
- Consider payback periods to gauge the sustainability of high CACs.
- Evaluate sales efficiency before hiring more reps.
- Check for market saturation as a reason for increasing CACs.
- Strategically hire roles to improve efficiency rather than stopping hiring completely.
- Revisit budget allocation to address high CACs.
- Set a burn rate budget and let the team decide on spending priorities.
- Address high CACs promptly to differentiate between short-term issues and deeper inefficiencies.
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4 Likes
Medium
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233
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Decode the 2-3-8-30 Strategy Matrix: Build Empires, Not Just Startups
- The article decodes the 2-3-8-30 Strategy designed to build empires by combining core foundations, strategic execution forces, innovation pillars, and scaling cycles.
- It emphasizes the importance of purpose and people in startups, using examples like Airbnb's culture reinforcement during tough times.
- The strategic execution forces focus on speed over perfection, revenue first, funding later, and achieving market fit with tech agility.
- The 8 innovation pillars include design thinking, deep data analysis, platformization, phygital integration, automation, narrative branding, global compliance, and intelligent capital allocation.
- The 30-day scaling cycle emphasizes rapid testing, execution, analysis, and iteration to drive growth effectively.
- The article also explores additional strategies inspired by military precision, Navy SEAL mental scaling, sports psychology, red teaming, adaptation over optimization, and mission-based culture.
- It concludes by highlighting the need for a holistic approach integrating the 2-3-8-30 strategy with battle-tested tactics to create legendary outcomes in business.
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14 Likes
Medium
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341
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Beyond the Term Sheet: How Capital, Culture, and AI Shape Global Startup Outcomes…
- Ecosystems like Japan, Korea, Singapore, the UK, Germany, and Taiwan are known for their engineering talent and disciplined founders.
- AI is reshaping the venture landscape, emphasizing structure, alignment, and cross-border navigation for global startup success.
- AI native startups lead with automation, accelerating product development and internal workflows in ecosystems like Taiwan, Korea, and Singapore.
- Structural decisions, such as legal entities and governance, are crucial signals for investors in the US and UK.
- Founders must align structure with global norms early on to reduce friction and attract funding efficiently.
- Competing in the US requires understanding investor expectations and translating local strengths into global advantages.
- Capital reflects cultural values, requiring founders to tailor their fundraising strategies to resonate with target markets.
- Networking with the right people is crucial for gaining credibility and opening doors in global markets.
- Benchmarking against global, not just local, peers is essential for successful international expansion.
- Intentional design and AI integration are key to scaling globally and competing at the highest levels in the AI native era.
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20 Likes
Medium
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165
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Why VCs Are Betting Big on Europe’s €800B Defense Boom
- Europe is investing €800 billion into defense, attracting venture capitalists who were previously hesitant about military-related investments.
- The defense sector in Europe is experiencing a transformation with technologies like AI-powered drones and satellite surveillance startups playing a key role.
- The focus is not just on war but also on sovereignty, security, and capitalizing on technological opportunities.
- Europe had a wake-up call after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, leading to a shift in the security landscape.
- The confidence in external protection wavered, pushing Europe towards investing more in defense capabilities.
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Pymnts
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228
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BNY Reportedly Pitched Merger to Northern Trust
- Bank of New York Mellon (BNY) has reportedly approached Northern Trust about a potential merger, aiming to combine two major asset-servicing businesses.
- The deal, if successful, would create an investment-management giant overseeing more than $3 trillion.
- CEOs of both institutions have had discussions, but no specific offer has been made yet.
- BNY is considering its next steps, which may include presenting a formal offer to Northern Trust.
- However, it is uncertain if the talks will result in a merger.
- The Trump administration has shown willingness to approve major bank mergers, which have been uncommon in recent years.
- The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) has proposed rolling back oversight policies for large bank mergers, signaling a potential shift in regulations.
- Under the previous rule, mergers involving institutions with assets of $100 billion or more would undergo increased financial stability analysis.
- Bankers have been advocating for a relaxation of regulations for merging or establishing new banks.
- Recent research indicates that banks offering real-time payments to businesses highlight enhanced payment tracking as a significant benefit.
- Real-time payments offer businesses operational transparency and improved cash flow management.
- Northern Trust, with a market value exceeding $21 billion, has seen its share price rise by 9% this year.
- BNY and Northern Trust have not provided official comments on the potential merger.
- BNY's return with a formal offer to Northern Trust remains a possibility.
- The outcome of the merger talks is uncertain at this time.
- The article discusses how real-time payments benefit businesses in managing cash flow efficiently.
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13 Likes
Medium
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272
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Fund Momentum — Fresh Funds Ready to Deploy #17
- Michael Schneider, a serial founder, operator, VC scout, and startup advisor, launched his fundraising consultancy, Seedraisr.
- He supports early-stage startup founders and family offices with deal flow and venture scouting.
- In his biweekly newsletter, he shares insights on developments in the venture capital market.
- The latest edition covers 18 VC & PE funds raised in early June 2025.
- The newsletter includes details on the funds and offers a special partner section.
- It also features a segment on new funds in the making or under the radar, presented by Specter.
- Seedraisr offers additional insights on the fresh funds.
- The full breakdown of 18 funds can be accessed by subscribing to the newsletter.
- There is an option to become a founding member for complete access to the fund list spreadsheet.
- The newsletter provides value to those interested in venture capital investments.
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